The most bizarre adaptation of the grandfather paradox is found in robert heinleins classic short story all you zombies. If you re familiar with the professor of theoretical physics, you d already guessed the plot of this movie. It is thus often referred as the all you zombies paradox. Such loops dont contradict themselves like a paradox does. All you zombies takes full advantage of the causeandeffect paradox inherent in the concept of time travel. But this one, this story, has stuck firmly in my brain as the ultimate paradox where the past, present, and future come together. Second, referring to all you zombies as the mother of all time paradox tales is a fun pun. I felt a headache coming on, but a headache powder is one thing i do not take. The grandfather paradox shows how one form of time travel could violate causality by eliminating the cause of a phenomenon that has already taken place in the present.
Ethan hawkes upcoming zombie movie adaptation of robert. This jumping from one time to another would allow one to arrive at a time that he or she is already in causing there to be two of the same person at once. The hooters all you zombies official video duration. Killing your grandfather so you dont ever have existed, so you couldnt have killed him thats a paradox. Where did all you zombies come from this book is amazing. In fact if we draw janes family tree she is the entire family tree herself. Heinlein has a short story all you zombies where the time traveller, by multiple trips and some gender reassignment surgery, becomes their own mother and father.
On the one hand i know its a classic of the genre and heinlein is a huge. I bet every scifi geek came out of the theater commenting the same stuff. Heinlein baby is left in an orphanage she grows up meets a man and has sex man leaves and then she finds out she is pregnant has a csection surgeon notices she also has male sex organs knowing that her female. What is the most mind boggling example of a time travel. Who is janes mother, father, grandfather, grand mother, son, daughter, granddaughter, and grandson. The story all you zombies written by robert anson heinlein and published in 1959 begins telling us of an unmarried mother, who turns out to be a. All you zombies is a sciencefiction short story written by american author robert a. Heinlein short story all you zombies it is based on.
An analysis of robert heinleins all you zombies with visuals. The mother of all time traveler stories, as described by professor michio kaku in one of his speech. One day, she falls in love with a drifter, who impregnates her and disappears. A slightly subtler paradox is provided by robert a. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. All you zombies paradox robert heinlein learnodo newtonic. Perhaps you slip on a banana peel and miss, perhaps the gun jams, perhaps you bump into the manwoman of your dreams and decide an evening of romance is better than an evening of bloodsoaked ancestor murder, perhaps well, lots of things might stop. Perhaps the craziest of the time travel paradoxes was cooked up by robert heinlein in his classic short story all you zombies. I know where i came from, but where did all you zombies come from. Its all about time travel and the paradox that comes with it. They are literally the same person in different points of their timelines. In the story, all you zombies, there are many paradoxes that heinlein touches upon. Time travel stories in themselves are a great topic to explore. The song has been covered by german singer sandra for her eighth studio album the art of love, and released as a promo single.
First published in the magazine of fantasy and science fiction march, 1959 the story involves a number of paradoxes caused by time travel. Japan closing all schools for a month with very few confirmed cases. Jane grows up lonely and dejected, not knowing who her parents are, until one day in 1963 she is strangely attracted to a drifter. The paradox states that, if a person was to go back in time and kill his own grandfather before he met his grandmother, then, that person should cease to exist. And just like the movie blew my mind, so did this story. Ive read many hundreds of time travel books and stories over more than 50 years of loving science fiction. An analysis of robert heinleins all you zombies with.
Here is an outline of the paradox with a few key moments missing. Nine problems with looper that arent brainmelting time. Predestination film predestination is a 2014 australian science fiction thriller film written and directed by michael and peter spierig. All you zombies is a cautionary tale as well as one of the finest timetravel yarns in science fiction.
It was written in one day, july 11, 1958, and first published in the march 1959 issue of fantasy and science fiction magazine after being rejected by playboy. The grandfather paradox lays out a hypothetical situation in which a timetraveller ventures back into the past only to inadvertently cause an event that results in the timetraveller never having existed at all usually the accidental death of the titular grandfather or some other event which makes their journey an impossibility. Heinlein baby is left in an orphanage she grows up meets a man and has sex man leaves and then she finds out she is pregnant has a csection surgeon notices she also has male sex organs knowing that her female sex organs are destroyed he changes her. A wellknown example is the predestination paradox, in which everything you do, even with the express purpose of preventing a. The story all you zombies written by robert anson heinlein and published in 1959 begins telling us of an unmarried mother, who turns out to be a 25 year old man. The film stars ethan hawke, sarah snook, and noah taylor, and is based on the short story all you zombies by robert a. When i read it again, all these years later, i saw something much grander in its. Jan 18, 2001 heinlein readers group chat on january 18 thursday and 20 saturday, 2001. Jan 12, 20 the most twisted time travel paradox was arguably imagined by robert heinlein in his classic short story all you zombies. Not only americas premier writer of speculative fiction, but the greatest writer of such fiction in the world. Heinleins all you zombies tommy lin march 18, 2016 at 7. A man randomly appears from the darkness, carrying a baby girl. The unwed mother, as a bar patron calls himself, unloads his life story onto a willing barman.
There isnt anyone but me jane here alone in the dark. The concept of a predestination paradox has been explored by scientific writers in the past, most notably by robert a. The unmarried mother, as a bar patron calls himself, unloads his life story onto a willing barman. If you dont get it, read the story or its synopsis on wikipedia. A baby girl is mysteriously left at an orphanage in. All you zombies is a sciencefiction short story written by american. I felt a headache coming on, but a headache powder is one thing i.
All you zombies, robert heinlein serendipity seeking. Here our hero turns out to be, thanks to a time machine and a sex change operation, his own mother and father. It became a hit, reaching the us billboard hot 100 chart and top 10 in australia. Thus, george and lorraine not marrying begins to erase marty from existence a variation on the grandfather paradox. All you zombies and causal loop see more confessional writing. Ethan hawkes upcoming zombie movie adaptation of robert heinleins all you zombies may 24, 2012 variety announced that sony pictures will produce the movie predestination based on robert heinleins 1958 short story all you zombies starring ethan hawke and directed by michael and peter spierig.
Time travel is impossible as exemplified by the famous grandfather paradox. The hooters all you zombies official video youtube. Heinlein in his short stories entitled by his bootstraps 1941 and all you zombies 1959. What are the differences between the film predestination and the. The story involves a number of paradoxes caused by time travel. The terminator or grandfather paradox says that it is impossible to successfully alter events in the past through time travel. In this story, a timetraveler passes on the blueprints to creating a time machine to someone, who then copies and creates those same blueprints. Heinleins all you zombies now a scifi movie head trip more login. In short, a girl named jane grows up in an orphanage and never knows her parents.
Predestination is an incredibly original and creative film, employing what may seem like common aspects of the sciencefiction genre, and putting a darker, grimmer twist on them. The storytelling leads you towards the plot twists with little regard of what you thought was about to happen. Im sure theres lots that can be debated about the story, but all in all its a time travel paradox story. One being, the ability to travel back and forth through time. They rereleased all you zombies with additional instrumental sections, making the song almost six minutes long. Oct 14, 2012 14 thoughts on nine problems with looper that arent brainmelting time paradoxes keyser soze 26 oct 2012 at 10. Everything in the story hinges on specific events that must happen via time travel. A long time ago ive seen a movie called predestination, but just recently ive found out that it was adopted from a short story called all you zombies, so of course i had to read it. The probability of time travel university of birmingham. The snake that eats its own tail, forever and ever. Claustrophobic tragedies they and all you zombies in 6xh the unpleasant profession of jonathan hoag and fantasies of robert a. All you zombies is a short story by robert heinlein, which outlines a rather bizarre time travel paradox. All you zombies by robert heinlein dog leader mysteries.
Bibliography comprehensive guide to short stories, critical edition. The bootstrap paradox all you zombies is a short story written by the late, great robert a. Jane grows up lonely and dejected not knowing who her parents are. Heinlein, a respected science fiction author, know for starship troopers, time enough for love and stranger in a strange. In literature, confessional writing is a firstperson style that is often presented as an ongoing diary or letters, distinguished by revelations of a persons deeper or darker motivations. A wellknown example is the predestination paradox, in which everything you do, even with the express purpose of preventing a certain. The only way to get ahead of the curve is to take actions that at the time seem like overreactions, eg. Heinleins all you zombies now a scifi movie head trip. I know where i came frombut where did all you zombies come from. He leaves the baby girl at an orphanage without any knowledge on who is she, and who is her parents. It was published in the march 1959 issue of fantasy and science fiction after being rejected by heinleins frequent publisher, playboy. In his classic story all you zombies robert heinlein imagined one of the most confusing yet amazing time travel paradoxes.
In the case of all you zombies, the entire existence of jane, the unmarried mother, and the bartender is one big, convoluted causal loop. It struck me s a neat story, an exploration of an irreconcilable time travel paradox. Except and as other have mentioned in the first back to the future movie, the single timeline version of time travel seems to be in effect. If you are successful, the event that prompted you to travel back wouldnt happen, thereby there would be no reason for you to travel back. How does the time loop in predestination get initialized. The notion of objects or information that are selfexisting in this way is often viewed as paradoxical, with several authors referring to a causal loop involving information or objects without origin as a bootstrap paradox. Thus, you would not have been born and the time machine would not have been built, a paradox. Heinleins all you zombies is considered one of the most influential and thoughtprovoking short stories ever to tackle the mindbending nature and paradoxes of time travel. The most twisted time travel paradox was imagined by robert heinlein in his classic short story all you zombies. A baby girl is mysteriously left at an orphanage in cleveland in 1945. I was polishing a brandy snifter when the unmarried mother came in. Causal loop a causal loop in the context of time travel or the causal structure of spacetime, is a sequence of events actions, information, objects, people in which an event is among the causes of another event, which in turn is among the causes of the firstmentioned event. May 24, 2012 first, the thought of those four writers being alongside one another in person for instance on a panel discussion is amusing. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of all you zombies by robert a.
Heinlein that presents to the reader an interesting time paradox. As the story unfolds, all the major characters are revealed to be the same person, at different stages of herhis life. The tale assumes not only the existence of time travel but also its necessity. If you go back in time and try and bring about a paradox, then something will get in your way. Mar 01, 2019 this is an analysis of all you zombies, a time travel short story by robert a. All you zombies 1959 read online free book by robert a. A baby girl is mysteriously dropped off at an orphanage in cleveland in 1945.
A doctor i spoke to today called this the paradox of preparation and its the key dynamic in all this. I recently came across a trailer for a new movie from the spierig brothers and decided to seek out the source story to aid in my attempt to read more scifi in general and more classic scifi in particular. All you zombies is a science fiction short story by american writer robert a. To forestall the atomic destruction of the earth, for example, agents of the temporal bureau must selectively manipulate what becomes the past. The movie entitled predestination comes from peter spierig and michael spierig, the australian brothers who previously directed hawke in the futuristic vampire film. The tale assumes not only the existence of time travel but also its.